Flatlands by Sue Hubbard

Book Summary

Freda is a twelve-year-old evacuee from East London, who has been sent away at the start of the war, leaving behind everything familiar to her, to escape the expected German bombing.

In her new temporary home in Lincolnshire, Freda finds herself billeted with a strange, cold and, ultimately, abusive couple, whose lives mirror the barren landscape in which they live a hand to mouth existence, based upon subsistence farming and poaching. There, deprived of any warmth, she meets a young man – Philip Rhayader -a conscientious objector who has left Oxford and his prospective vocation in the church following a nervous breakdown.

Together they explore the wild, beautiful landscape of the Wash, teeming with migrating birds, and nurse an injured goose back to health. As they do so, Philip introduces Freda to the wonders of the natural world and its enduring power to heal.

I wanted to share a short extract from the book which I particularly liked. I felt it was quite touching and I also thought it gave a good feel for one of the main characters. I found the writing in the book to be so descriptive and it is full of evocative nature writing.

Author Bio

Sue Hubbard is an award-winning poet, novelist and art critic. She has published three acclaimed novels and numerous collections of poetry, and was commissioned to create London's largest public art poem at Waterloo. Flatlands is her fourth novel.